


Left Behind

by LadiesLoveLoki



Category: Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Other, Story Bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 16:45:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3388952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadiesLoveLoki/pseuds/LadiesLoveLoki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rosalie has loved her best friend since the womb, Sir Thomas Hiddleston, ever since she could remember, and with all her soul.  But when he shatters her heart by getting engaged to another, she finds solace in the arms of the dashing, and borderline dastardly, Captain Colin O’Donaghue.  Good friends in public, bitter rivals in private, Thomas and Colin have been trying to ‘one-up’ each other ever since boyhood.  To Thomas’s horror, Colin had drawn innocent Rosalie into their besting game; he’d been subtly coaxing Rosalie to cut Thomas off, convincing her that Thomas saw her as a loyal lapdog, to emotionally abuse and neglect at his leisure.  To Colin’s demented glee, Thomas’s engagement succeeded in proving just that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Left Behind

“Colin was right”, Rosalie whispered, keeping her back to him, trying hard to reign in her shuddering breaths. 

Thomas’s brow furrowed.  “Right about what?” he asked, coming up to her.  Before he could put a hand on her shoulder, she jerked away.  She looked up at him, those luminescent eyes shining brightly with unshed tears.

“I’d reserved my heart for the wrong man… _all this time”,_ she replied.  “You need not trouble yourself on my account.  You can rest assured that I will never lay my mind… _or my heart_ …on you again.  After I leave you here, I will never again willingly wish myself in your company.”

“Rosalie”, he whispered, stepping towards her with a hand outstretched.  No…he couldn’t lose her…not like this…

She stepped further away from him.  “I will leave you to your fiancé”, she said coldly.  “This loyal little lapdog is snapping her leash.”

Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but they both heard a rustling in the trees.  He began to seethe as Colin stepped through the foliage.

“Rosalie”, Colin sighed in relief, rushing to her to take her in his arms.

Thomas decided at that moment that his fingernails were in desperate need of a trim, for they were biting into his palms with how hard his fists were clenched.

“Please, Colin”, she whispered, turning her face into Colin’s chest.  “Take me home.”

“Whatever you wish”, Colin murmured back, pressing his lips to her forehead.  He looked up at Thomas over the top of her head, an eyebrow twitching upwards in amusement.  He called out, and a servant stepped up.  “Kindly escort the Lady to my carriage.  I shall be along presently.”

The servant bobbed in a curtsy, and led Rosalie off. 

Colin made sure that Rosalie was well away before he looked at Thomas.  “Oh, I could not have done better if I’d planned it myself”, he said, chuckling.  “You know, I always gained great amusement at when you would so struggle with a difficult problem in school…after a long while, your eyes would light up in understanding…only to find out that you’ve been  _oh so terribly wrong._ I never fail to gain pleasure from that look.  The look on your face right now…it is something I will treasure for the rest of my life.  That look that tells me that you  _just now_ realize the life-changing mistake you’ve just made.  And that mistake, you will have to live with for the  _rest of your life._ ”  He laughed delightedly.  “And the best part about it is this:  _it’s all your own doing.”_

“You…lied…to her…” Thomas panted.

“Did I?  I did what you refused to do all this time, which is to let her in on a painful truth: that you would  _never_ love her the way she loved you.  And you even  _proved_ that, with your engagement.  I told her that she was like a loyal lapdog to you.  So very loving and adoring, lapping up any little crumb of affection you threw her way.  A dog to carry about and lock away and neglect at your leisure.  And once again, you  _proved me right.”_

Colin expertly dodged a flying fist, his movements honed from years of military training, and got Thomas in the stomach with a swift, hard fist.  Thomas doubled over, coughing as he fell to his knees.

“The truth hurts, doesn’t it?” he asked.  He bent to whisper in the other man’s ear.  “Oh, she would have blossomed  _most magnificently_ for you.  All you needed to do was to reach out, and take her hand.  But now…It is  _I_ who will make her blossom.  It will be  _my_ name she whispers shyly as she says her wedding vows.  It will be  _my_ name she sighs and coos in rapture as I take her in  _our_ marriage bed.  And it will be  _my_ seed that takes root in her belly and makes it swell with child.”  He sat next to Thomas on the ground as the other man tried to regain his bearings.  “And I plan to make her happier than any  _thought_ of you  _EVER_ could.  In time…I will make her  _forget all about you._ You shattered her heart for the last time…and I will be the one to mend it.” 

He stood, brushing himself off.  “Enjoy the rest of your life, Thomas.  I leave you with the words that I will never tire of saying:   _ **I WIN**._ ”  He bowed stiffly, before going off, leaving Thomas to get the wind back in his lungs.


End file.
